Social media: catch up on the latest features on your favourite platforms

Although there are often new developments in terms of web marketing and new technology, there are constant new functionalities when it comes to social media. What may seem anecdotal is actually highly strategic: a functionality which is ignored or forgotten can even lead to revenue losses for brands. That’s why you need to be constantly aware of the market’s best practices and functionalities which have been newly developed by social platforms. To make sure you don’t miss out on anything, we’ve done the work for you!

Instagram

Shopping: to better sell your products

Having been tested in the United States for several months, the “Shopping” functionality is finally available in France. It allows advertisers to identify up to five products per image posted on Instagram with a tag containing price information, practical product details and a link to the brand’s website.

This new feature significantly simplifies and facilitates the purchasing process from Instagram. Found some clothing or another item you like on the social network? In two “taps”, it’s in your virtual basket! It’s essential to take advantage of the potential of this ever-popular social media.

Focus: a new photo format

It’s not just the subject which makes a great a photo: framing plays a role too. With Focus, Instagram offers a creative new way to blur the background of a photo to focus on the main subject, allowing you to play with different depth-of-field effects.

Biographies are changing, bit by bit

On Instagram, your biography is extremely important. It must be concise, clear and written using keywords. It’s recently become possible to add mentions (with the symbol @ followed by the name of the account) and clickable hashtags (# followed by the keyword). A good way to diversify your profile and maximize your discoverability.

Facebook

Personal profile certification for community managers

Facebook is doing everything it can in its quest for transparency, whilst being the subject of several controversies. One of its latest responses is to certify the personal profiles of people who manage popular pages. Community managers will no longer be able to hide behind fake profiles when managing a brand’s content.

The end of third-party data in ad targeting

The precision of Facebook’s targeting is due not only to data collected about its users but also to external partnerships with Data Brokers, companies which share very detailed information with the network (rent, household makeup, socio-economic category, purchasing habits, etc.). By ending these partnerships, Facebook is trying to be more transparent with its advertisers and users.

Advertising comes to the Marketplace

The Marketplace is Facebook’s “eBay”: the functionality which enables individuals to buy and sell (and from companies too). Advertising will be rolled out gradually on this interface to allow advertisers to display their ads on the Marketplace.

Twitter

Timestamp: to share an excerpt of a video

The new functionality called “Timestamp” allows you to choose a short excerpt of a long video published on Twitter (a catch-up of a live show, for example) to share it. For example, if a football game is a broadcast, you can just choose fifteen seconds of specific action. It’s a way of creating concise videos on the network.

LinkedIn

Native video advertising takes its first steps

Advertisers who want to advertise on LinkedIn can now do so with native video, directly integrated into the newsfeed. This is a very useful new feature which, as studies have shown, creates significant engagement compared to more traditional publications.

Snapchat

Radius: geolocation ad targeting

“Radius Targeting” is the name of this new feature from Snapchat which displays advertisements or filters only within a well-defined geographical area, ranging from 1 to 100 kilometers around a specific point. A new feature which positions Snapchat within advertisers’ drive-to-store strategy.

Pinterest

Shop the look: to shop directly

Using a fashion shot or an interior design photo on Pinterest, “Shop the Look” enables users to buy products and to see recommendations for similar products. This was launched in partnership with several major brands and influencers and will soon be expanded.